Samia Suluhu Sworn In As Tanzania’s First Female President

Samia Suluhu has been sworn-in as Tanzania’s President following the death of John Magufuli.

 

At exactly 10:15 am on Friday, Suluhu took the oath of office at State House Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

 

She succeeds President Magufuli who died on Wednesday.

 

Those in attendance included former President Jakaya Kikwete and Zanzibar’s Hussein Mwinyi.

Suluhu, 61, sets history as the first female Tanzania President.

 

Dressed in red and black, the new President of Tanzania inspected a guard of honor mounted by the Tanzania Defence Forces.

 

According to a statement by Tanzania State House spokesman, Hassan will then address the nation and chair her first Cabinet meeting.

 

She will serve the remaining term of Magufuli which started last October when he was re-elected.

 

Suluhu has been Magufuli’s deputy since 2015.

 

She is expected to nominate a Vice President from the mainland given that she comes from Zanzibar, in line with the Tanzanian Constitution.

 

The swearing-in was low-key without the attendance of heads of state who usually grace such occasions.

 

Following Magufuli’s death, opposition leaders had called for the immediate swearing-in of Hassan to avoid a power vacuum.

 

Tanzania’s opposition leader Zitto Kabwe had on Thursday said the Vice President needed to be sworn-in accordance with the Constitution.

 

“The VP has to be sworn-in immediately,” Kabwe told Reuters on Thursday morning.

 

“The Constitution doesn’t allow a vacuum, once it was official that the President has died, the next step was for the Vice President to be sworn in.”

Source: TBC